In the last few years, there’s been a rising trend for public employers – not just private companies – to ban smoking. Here is what your peers are doing.
What’s New in Benefits and Compensation recently surveyed 374 of our readers from both the private and public sectors to find out their organization’s policy on allowing staff to smoke onsite and hiring smokers in the first place. Here’s what we found –
• 11% have developed a policy of hiring only non-smokers
• 17% allow staff members to smoke offsite, but ban it on all business property
• 39 percent restrict use of tobacco to designated areas outside the building
• 30 percent allow tobacco use anywhere outside the building, and
• 3 percent allow tobacco use in break rooms or other indoor areas.
Public businesss get aggressive
While much of the publicity about no-hire policies for smokers centers on private businesses, it’s actually public employers in certain states who’ve been the most aggressive of late.
For example, Florida is among the states at the forefront of the movement. Sarasota County recently became the third Florida county to take a no-hire stance for control health care costs.
New hires must take a drug test that detects nicotine and sign a pledge certifying that they haven’t smoked in the past 12 months.
The ban won’t affect current staff members, but the county has undertaken use of tobacco cessation programs aimed at employees’ wallets.
Non-smokers pay less for coverage through various incentives and the county covers the cost of participating in tobacco use cessation programs.
The reason why Florida public corporations are able to take these steps – the state supreme Supreme Court has ruled that refusing to hire smokers doesn’t break discrimination laws.
But your state laws may vary, so proceed with caution before considering similar policies.
